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The Fight for Zaporizhzhia Oblast

September 7, 2022 – The United Nations nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), on Tuesday called on Russia and Ukraine to establish a “nuclear safety and security protection zone” around the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP). In a report of the visit, the IAEA said shelling of the facility should cease immediately. “This requires agreement by all relevant parties to the establishment of a nuclear safety and security protection zone” around the plant, it said.

The IAEA said shelling presented a major risk to nuclear safety. “The IAEA is still gravely concerned about the situation at the ZNPP — this hasn’t changed,” the report said. It said the best course of action would be for the conflict to end, but failing that, a security area should be established. It also called for the removal of the Russian armored vehicles that the delegation observed at the plant.

October 6, 2022 – At least two people have been confirmed dead in a series of Russian rocket attacks on Ukraine’s southern city of Zaporizhzhia. Local officials say the rockets hit residential buildings before dawn and then again several hours later. The Ukrainian-held city is the capital of the eponymous Zaporizhzhia region, which Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this week declared annexed, along with three other Ukrainian regions – Donetsk and Luhansk in the east, and Kherson in the south. Moscow does not fully control any of the four regions, and in recent weeks Ukrainian troops have made significant advances in the country’s north-east and south.

October 6, 2022 – Russian military strikes in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia destroyed a five-story apartment building. Zaporizhzhia is one of the four Ukrainian regions annexed by Russia. BBC correspondent Hugo Bachega joins “CBS News Mornings” with the latest.

October 17, 2022 – More than 30 settlements across Ukraine have been hit by Russian missile strikes in the last day, damaging civilian homes and critical infrastructure. Ukrainians, including in the capital, Kyiv, are being told to avoid using electricity for several hours a day to conserve supplies. But it is cities near the front line like Zaporizhzhia, which are relentlessly targeted by Moscow. One of the worst attacks came last week, ripping through a block of flats in a suburb on the outskirts of the city, on Zestafonska street. We report from block number 8 on what happened to those who lived there – and those who survived.

November 20, 2022 – IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi tells Lesley Stahl about the precarious nuclear situation in Ukraine and the work his team is doing to prevent a catastrophe.

January 4, 2023 – Only a small fraction of the pre-war population remains in the village of Orikhiv in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region. The settlement is located near the front line of the war and suffers daily shelling by Russian forces. “For the last 10 months, there’s been no electricity, gas, or water. Everything is destroyed; there is no infrastructure. People are really trying to survive here. They mostly live in basements. They definitely sleep in basements,” Ukrainian soldier Maksym said.

Russia’s bombardments have left many Ukrainians without heating and electricity due to damage or controlled blackouts meant to preserve the remaining power supply, according to Ukraine’s state-owned grid operator. In the latest setback for the Kremlin, Ukrainian forces fired rockets at a facility in the eastern Donetsk region where Russian soldiers were stationed, killing 63 of them, according to Russia’s defense ministry. Other unconfirmed reports put the death toll much higher.

January 14, 2023 – Cunning Ambush: More than 10 Russian S-300 defense batteries HARD-HIT by Ukrainian army!

May 31, 2023 – The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was taken under Russia control last March, becoming one of the first major areas to be captured by Vladimir Putin’s forces. People who work at the plant say they are intimidated by Russian troops to keep quiet about what’s happening behind closed doors, fearing “devastation” on a scale “worse than Chernobyl.”

May 31, 2023 – The Head of the Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) nuclear watchdog has warned about the risks of “severe nuclear accident” around Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Rafael Grossi said the security situation around the plant is “extremely fragile and dangerous” because of continued military activity in the region. It is Europe’s largest nuclear power station and it’s been occupied by Russia for more than a year.

June 6, 2023 – Drone video emerged showing a deluge of water gushing from a sizeable breach in the Nova Kakhovka dam in eastern Ukraine. Retired Brig. Gen. Steve Anderson explains the significance.

June 6, 2023 – Evacuation efforts are underway in southern Ukraine, where floodwaters are rising after a dam on the Dnipro River was breached overnight in the Ukrainian city of Nova Kakhovka. The breach has created an additional humanitarian disaster in an area that’s seen heavy fighting since Russia’s invasion. Ukraine’s government says floodwaters are threatening 80 towns and villages, as well as the city of Kherson, home to 300,000 people. The breach could also limit drinking water supplies across Kherson and Crimea. Ukrainian officials accused Russia’s military of deliberately sabotaging the dam, calling it an act of “ecocide,” while Russian officials blamed Ukrainian artillery fire for the breach. The disaster has raised fears of a nuclear accident at Europe’s largest nuclear power station, the six-reactor Zaporizhzhia plant, which is upstream of the dam breach and relies on a reservoir formed by the dam for critical cooling systems. We go to Kyiv to speak with Olexi Pasyuk, deputy director of the Ukrainian NGO Ecoaction, to discuss the environmental implications.

June 7, 2023 – Around 42,000 people are at risk from flooding in areas along the Dnipro River after the Kakhovka dam collapse yesterday. Russia has denied US and Ukrainian claims it was behind an attack on the dam, which President Zelenskyy called “an environmental bomb of mass destruction.”

June 9, 2023 – The Nova Kakhovka Dam was breached on June 5, 2023 at around 2:50 in the morning local time. I believe that a structural collapse, not an explosion. Russia is still to blame for this calamity, but I believe the structural failure occurred due to overtopping and hydrodynamic scour due to frequent use of the southernmost sluice gate and spillway.

June 10, 2023 – Officials in Ukraine are stepping up efforts to evacuate people in areas flooded after the destruction of the massive Kakhovka dam earlier this week. Kyiv and many international organizations hold Russia responsible for destroying the dam. As water levels begin to drop, a new threat has emerged – concerns are now growing about landmines dislodged by the floods.

June 14, 2023 – The flood-affected region is some of Ukraine’s most fertile agricultural land. DW visited a village in the Mykolaiv region where residents now need a boat to get around.

August 21, 2023 – Another Russian convoy decimated – massive Russian losses – fighting in Robotyne.

00:06 Russian convoy destroyed near Klishchiivka
02:22 Russia’s massive losses exposed
03:38 Russian sources lied about capturing Synkivka
04:05 Ukrainians clearing the southern outskirts of Robotyne

August 22, 2023 – “We knew that we were going towards peace, towards Ukraine.” Local residents in Robotyne, Ukraine cried tears of joy as they were liberated by the Ukrainian armed forces.

August 27, 2023 – Day 550 – Today, there are a lot of updates from the Tokmak direction. Here, after Ukrainians established total control over Robotyne, they immediately started pushing further. The main target of Ukrainians became the next village on the line – Novoprokopivka. However, the fastest way to the settlement was not the shortest. Russian forces created several fortifications between Robotyne and Novoprokopivka. Ukrainian fighters reported that they were destroying Russian personnel with regular and cluster shells in large numbers. A fighter from the 24th Assault Brigade reported that Russian daily reinforcements reached 60 trucks of troops, so Russian losses on this small section of the front line are mind-boggling. And such a desperate attempt to slow Ukrainians down is not surprising – if Ukrainians take Novoprokopivka, they will reach the second line of defense.

That is why Russians are holding onto these several trench networks and regularly bomb Robotyne to prevent Ukrainians from accumulating forces enough to conduct a powerful attack. Geolocated footage confirms that bombing happens on a regular basis and some state that Russians conduct up to 8 such attacks per day. Unfortunately for Russians, Ukrainians attacked from a different direction. Due to the constant shelling of the southern part of Robotyne and continuous counterattacks from the Russian side, the Ukrainian command saw that advances in this region would come at an unnecessarily high price. Ukrainians continued imitating attacks near Robotyne to play along with Russian expectations, while in the meantime, Ukrainians gradually accumulated forces in the tree lines east of Robotyne.

As Ukrainians liberated a lot of fields, Russians did not notice the accumulation of a critical number of troops until it was too late. Ukrainians started pushing south parallel to the Robotyne-Novoprokopivka line and gained ground relatively quickly. Soon, Russian sources published footage showing how Russian artillery was shelling Ukrainians more than 2 km south of the previous positions. The reason why Ukrainians managed to advance here so rapidly is simple. If we look at the topographic map, we can see that Ukrainians moved into the lowlands. Even though Ukrainians were at a tactical disadvantage, Russian forces did not create enough strong points to repel Ukrainian attacks confidently. Russians counted a lot of the mine fields, however, Ukrainians developed a great tactic to tackle this problem much more easily.

As it is very hot during the day, metal absorbs this heat visibly greater than the ground. So, Ukrainians would launch drones with thermal cameras during the day to create a map of mines. This approach allowed to identify trails with virtually no mines or the point at which the mine field is very narrow. Next, Ukrainians would send demining equipment to create a safe pathway, get across the minefield, and assault Russian positions. Ukrainians here also experienced more freedom of operation, as the Russian artillery was too focused on shelling the southern part of Robotyne. After repeating the processes for several more days, Ukrainians approached Novoprokopivka from the east and conducted the first assault on the village. Two days ago, Russian sources reported that the Russians 56th and 108th regiments lost key positions in the eastern part of the village, which is why Novoprokopivka could already be considered lost.

Despite the raised alarm by some Russian media sources, it is too early to consider Novoprokopivka as fallen. Nonetheless, over the last several days, the area of operation of Ukrainian forces shifted south by up to 4 km. If Ukrainians gain a stable bridgehead inside the village and push Russians out of the western side, Russian forces will automatically lose control over all trenches and fortifications north of Novoprokopivka, and, what is even more important, Ukrainians will reach the second line of defense on a 12-km section simultaneously. This is very bad news for Russians because as Ukrainians can attack any section, Russians need to stretch their forces evenly and, inevitably, thinly and keep as many troops as possible everywhere at all times. Ukrainians, in turn, just need to find or create a weak link and penetrate the line. Once passed, Ukrainians can clear the line by attacking it from 3 sides.

September 5, 2023 – “The Ukrainians have the initiative. They certainly have momentum in the east and in the south. They certainly have accelerated the momentum in these strategic strikes against Russian targets”

September 7, 2023 – Russians in panic – insane battle on the southern front – Russian army is running out of men.

September 10, 2023 – Crazy! Russians SHOT THEIR OWN TROOPS BY MASSIVE BARRAGE OF ARTILLERY MISSILES! This event, which you saw part of in the Introduction of this video, did not happen today. But the video footage and the radio conversation of the Russian army were leaked today. We have reached the information that this event took place in July. It may be one of the biggest Russian fiascos since the beginning of the war that Putin started with the dream of victory in 3 days. There are other details about this incident. But of course, there are many other important reports today. Ukrainian tanks are seen to have penetrated to the bottom of Russian positions in the southern offensive. Russian military blogger Semyon Pegov has also confessed about the situation in the south. Let’s analyze the latest reports and the details of the big Russian fiasco.

While the Russians are losing strength and troops today Ukrainian forces launched simultaneous attacks on Russian positions in the area of the village of Robotine in two directions. The Ukrainian army advanced towards Novoprokopivka, striking Russian positions in two more directions. Ukrainian troops advanced towards Russian positions in Zaporizhzhya from the northeast to Novoprokopivka. Russian milbloggers also confirmed this information, mentioning the Ukrainian army’s successes in the south. According to Russian milblogger Semyon Pegov, Ukrainian troops attacked from the east the village of Kopani and from the northeast the village of Novoprokopivka, located on the Ukrainian army’s road to the city of Tokmak. On the other hand, Ukrainian troops have advanced 28 km deep into Russian-controlled territory. If they manage to advance another 16 km, long-range artillery and missiles of the Ukrainian Armed Forces could attack the supply lines of the Russian army.

Breaking the Russian defense lines in the south accelerates the advance of Ukrainian forces, bringing them step by step closer to Crimea. With this advance, the supply nodes of Russian troops are seriously jeopardized. The damage caused to Russian logistics and the Russian army’s inventory by the protracted war is no longer concealable and irreparable. These shortages in the army are demoralizing Russian soldiers and driving them into a psychological depression. At the same time, they undermine Russian combat performance. In this situation, the ruptures within the army are turning into a complete fiasco. Today, video footage has emerged of Russian soldiers putting their fellow troops under heavy fire with thermobaric weapons. These striking video images once again revealed the deplorable state of Russian soldiers. In the video footage, the nervous state and slang speech of the Russian soldiers were quite striking.

The Russian friendly fire took place on the Zaphorizhia front when the Ukrainian 30th brigade went on the offensive. When the fighters of the Ukrainian brigade approached the Russian troops, the enemy noticed this and took it as an attack on them. The Russian troops then reported this to the head communications center. Russian communications, due to lack of information and communication breakdowns, confused their own troops with the Ukrainians who were trying to advance on the front line. In other words, the Ukrainian fighters reached the enemy fortifications, which caused fear and chaos among the Russian troops. Therefore, panicked Russians started firing thermobaric weapons at their own positions. In fact, the Russians were eliminating their own comrades in arms in their attack to destroy the Ukrainians. No one could stop this.

The heavy friendly fire lasted too long. After this moment, dramatic images were captured on camera. The radio conversations of the Russians proved the gravity of the situation. The 53-second video begins with thick gray smoke rising from the battlefield. From the 14th second onwards, intense missile fire on Russian positions is reflected in the footage. Successive thermobaric missiles hit Russian positions. The bright red flames of the missiles are replaced by smoke rising from the Russian positions. From the 28th second, Russian soldiers enter the frame. Russians lying motionless on the ground in the positions attract attention. Despite the fire raining down on them, two Russian soldiers try to drag their wounded comrades away from the line of fire. Another Russian soldier picks up his weapon and tries to escape from friendly fire. The 53-second video ends with angry and slang conversations of the Russians.

September 10, 2023 – Day 564 – Today, there are a lot of new developments in the Tokmak direction. As Ukrainians secured the road to Robotyne, they started to ramp up their offensive operation in all directions. The first direction of advancement became Kopani. The goal of Ukrainians here is to demolish the remnants of the first defense line to gain more freedom of movement inside the bridgehead. As you can see, if Ukrainians broke the Robotyne-Verbove section of the first line of defense long ago, then the Robotyne-Kopani section remained virtually intact, constricting the movement of the Ukrainian assault units. If yesterday, Ukrainians were confirmed to capture up to 3 Russian trench networks west of Robotyne by attacking them from the village itself, then today, according to Russian sources, Ukrainians opened additional lines of attack from the north and successfully gained more ground.

Ukrainian sources published combat footage showing how several Leopards 2A6 were undermining the Russian defense in the tree lines before the infantry assault by demolishing it with high-explosive shells. The moment Ukrainians saw the explosion of the first Russian artillery shell, they retreated, never giving the Russians time to correct their fire and destroy Leopards. However, this was already enough, and after a series of assaults, Russians were pushed out of multiple positions. Shortly after that, Ukrainian fighters released a video of how they were evacuating a stuck Russian tank, which suggests that those fields that were previously in the grey zone are now under total Ukrainian control. But this was just the beginning. Today, Ukrainians also conducted a tank raid on Novoprokopivka. Recently released combat footage gave a lot of insights into what was actually happening on the ground.

It looks like the tanks entered the area right after artillery preparation, which successfully blew up small Russian ammunition depots in the shelters. After the tanks cut the distance and got close to the tree line, one of them tried to go as much through the line as possible and also along the tree line from the Ukrainian side. This is a very prudent move because it causes detonations of anti-personnel mines and creates safe trails for the infantry that is going to enter this region after the tanks. The hardest part is to get there safely, and Ukrainian fighters will have a lot of cleared ground from the safest side. Once the infantry is there, they will be able to gradually demine the whole tree line. The tanks also looked for intact shelters or any fortifications that could present a threat, especially to the infantry, and made sure that everything was demolished. Soon, the tree line was cleared. However, Ukrainians did not stop here and moved further.

As they got closer to the new positions, the tanks became in direct view of one of the Russian ATGM positions. Unfortunately for the Russians, the missile missed the target. A Ukrainian drone operator immediately identified the area from where the missile was launched and gave the coordinates to both the artillery and tank crews. The ATGM position was quickly suppressed, if not completely demolished, and Ukrainians decided to continue their movement even deeper. Shortly, they got right in front of the village of Novoprokopivka and opened fire on the Russians inside the village. The standing tanks became a perfect target, and the Russians took another try to destroy them. Fortunately, the Ukrainian drone operator was extremely vigilant, noticed the Russian kamikaze drone, and immediately told the crew.

The drone missed the target as well. After all objectives were achieved, the tank crews returned to the base. After the tank raid was completed, Ukrainian infantry conducted a clearing operation and established total control over new positions. One fighter showed that his unit collected a whole trunk of equipment in the trenches. Another fighter filmed a video on the contact line between Robotyne and Novoprokovka. Because of the necessity to cross an open space, the reconnaissance unit had to always be running. The fighter said that the area is being surveilled, and some sections of the trail are not only densely mined but also under sniper control. The fact that the fighter published the video means that he safely returned, and the operation was likely successful.